Too many red flags for me. Unless we can get him on loan or a heavily incentivised deal, I'd steer clear. His wages are enormous.
De Ligt | €45+5m agreement reached pending medical | Signed!
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I think it does, but I also like to look at the whole squad instead of just a proposed eleven.
I think you're right. The team needs a couple of top players, but give us a season without an injury crisis and less criminal charges and we probably do okay.
If we manage to avoid an injury crisis next season, with also 4 or 5 new players added, and we'll somehow still be 15th according to expected points and other underlying stats, then ETH is probably not surviving for long. However, I'm expecting a refreshed and reinvigorated manager, squad and coaching staff.
Aside from the new players suggested, it literally finished mid table.
Man Utd needs to buy players who peak when Guardiola leaves city. Players who are 26-29 in 2 years are perfect.
Yes it would be amazing if Man Utd next season suddenly could push City and Guardiola but it will just not happen.
So getting 20 year old prospects is ok, 30 year olds certainly makes no sense and players in De Ligts age range are perfect.
If the club is clever they build a squad peaking in 2026 which still can get 2025 savely a Championsleague spot. I think it is coming together quite good for that goal. De Ligt can be one more corner stone for Man Utd in that matter.
If you consider what in 2 years time would be needed to have a very good squad and who will be useless by then, it should make an interesting exercise inchecking who Man Utd should get now to peak in 2026.
Just Defense:
Varane 31
Maguire 31
Lindelöf 30 (in 2 weeks)
Evans 36
Shaw 29 ( in 2 weeks)
In 2 years they are all done for (if not already).
So you have in 2026 Martinez and Kambwala as CD.
Malacia, Williams, Dalot, Wan-Bissaka as right and left backs.
Yes it would be amazing if Man Utd next season suddenly could push City and Guardiola but it will just not happen.
So getting 20 year old prospects is ok, 30 year olds certainly makes no sense and players in De Ligts age range are perfect.
If the club is clever they build a squad peaking in 2026 which still can get 2025 savely a Championsleague spot. I think it is coming together quite good for that goal. De Ligt can be one more corner stone for Man Utd in that matter.
If you consider what in 2 years time would be needed to have a very good squad and who will be useless by then, it should make an interesting exercise inchecking who Man Utd should get now to peak in 2026.
Just Defense:
Varane 31
Maguire 31
Lindelöf 30 (in 2 weeks)
Evans 36
Shaw 29 ( in 2 weeks)
In 2 years they are all done for (if not already).
So you have in 2026 Martinez and Kambwala as CD.
Malacia, Williams, Dalot, Wan-Bissaka as right and left backs.
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The system and environment was dysfunctional due to a lot of reasons. You could put any, widely regarded as a world class player into last season's United and 90% of them would look worse than they really are. You can't really judge any player on a season like last one. Most of Chelsea's squad is also easily top 6 quality, despite having finished 12th in 2022/23. It's more complex than just league positions.
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To be honest, we were without Shaw and Martinez for the majority of the season, and we had Bruno delivering some of his worst performances ever in the United shirt for the first half of the season. It's pretty much the same team that finished 3rd the season before.
Jonny Evans was our most played centre back.
But in reality Shaw and marintez are likely to be injured, at least a decent proportion of the season.
Well it's the same manager next season.
They all have good squads too.
Yes, and I see 3 outcomes.
1. The system will suddenly work with new CBs and DMs.
2. He reverts to his more pragmatic approach which finished 3rd in 2022/23, and won the FA Cup final in 2023/24.
3. It still doesn't work and he gets sacked.
Which part is so wrong?
Sure, but you wouldn't say he's got a fantastic strike rate with his signings would you ?
I think all this talk comparing squads is very premature this early in the transfer window, especially with keeping in mind that we will sign at least 4 players, but possibly even 5 or 6.
However, Arsenal and City do have good squads and we won't reach their level next season.
Chelsea could still be a mess next season. It's impossible to predict how things will go for them at this point.
Liverpool will almost certainly regress, and have two irreplaceable players that are going to decline very soon in VVD and Salah, on top of losing Klopp.
I wouldn't say Spurs, Villa or Newcastle have better squads or starting elevens than we do.
I appreciate the concerns people have but it’s really difficult not to get excited at this potential signing, doesn’t sound like it’s advanced yet so won’t get my hopes up but would really enjoy having him as part of the squad.
I have two concerns with the idea of De Ligt.
Firstly, I really think we need some genuine pace at the back. The criteria we should be prioritising in a new CB are pace, aerial dominance and proactiveness - De Ligt only covers 2 of those 3. He’d be a slight improvement on Maguire and Lindelof - because I think he is less passive than either, but he’s just as slow which leaves us with many of the same issues.
Secondly, after everything that’s happened at the end of this season, my gut says a Ten Hag who was reflective and acknowledging of the criticism he’s received, and who was serious about turning things around, would be running a mile from signing another player he’s worked with before. It just feels like he’s setting himself up for more unnecessary abuse and leaves me wondering if he takes any of the other criticisms seriously either.
Firstly, I really think we need some genuine pace at the back. The criteria we should be prioritising in a new CB are pace, aerial dominance and proactiveness - De Ligt only covers 2 of those 3. He’d be a slight improvement on Maguire and Lindelof - because I think he is less passive than either, but he’s just as slow which leaves us with many of the same issues.
Secondly, after everything that’s happened at the end of this season, my gut says a Ten Hag who was reflective and acknowledging of the criticism he’s received, and who was serious about turning things around, would be running a mile from signing another player he’s worked with before. It just feels like he’s setting himself up for more unnecessary abuse and leaves me wondering if he takes any of the other criticisms seriously either.
I think he’d be fine for you. He’s a good player and seems like a good character. He‘s just not world class.
This place absolutely hated the news of us seriously considering Bruno or Martinez back then so I wouldn't take the opinions here too highly. I actually have no doubt that this place would even moan about us signing prime Messi.
Taking shots at Ornstein's credibility and competency as a journalist definitely takes the cake here though.
Taking shots at Ornstein's credibility and competency as a journalist definitely takes the cake here though.
Anyone know what he is earning at Bayern?
What fee do you think it takes?
Somewhere in the range of 50 million would sound about right. Maybe a little less.
De Ligt is better than Maguire. Ugarte is better than Amrabat. These two facts are ones I never thought I'd have to say.
He'd be a massive improvement, not a slight one. I don't think he's slow, but he is better defending in the box than the halfway line, so maybe you're right there.
What happened to people wanting pace at the back?
Why are you so obsessed with pace? Dalot and Shaw are very quick, anyway.
Isn't it important that we buy centre backs that are great in possession and defending, first and foremost?
What pacy centre back available is better than De Ligt?
They aren't 'facts'.
Also I didn't say Ugarte wasn't better than Amrabat (I've never seen him play). All I said was that people were similarly raving over Amrabat last summer in these fantasy XIs.
To be fair, in August 2022 none of us would’ve considered Arsenal a consecutive top 4 side, let alone a consecutive top 2 side.
Absolutely none of us considered Villa a top 4 side in August 2023.
Spurs post Kane were written off by everyone.
You simply can’t look at a side on paper and judge, confidence, form, momentum, and improvements from young or new players can’t be judged on paper.
He has a point. Yeah our fullbacks are quick, but that doesn't help on counters. Maybe a CB with pace would have helped the last year?
I think that’s easy to say, and is always said about shiny new transfers, but I just don’t think the evidence backs it up.
He has some of the same weaknesses as Maguire - the lack of pace and being especially slow on the turn being chief among them.
He’s slightly better on the ball than Harry and he’s more a proactive defender, but based on his performances of the last 3 or 4 seasons, he wouldn’t be a signing who could change the way we play.
He’s got age on his side but is he a better player than Varane? will be on similar money if not more and a very patchy injury record it doesn’t feel like a good fit on the surface
After Owen Hargreaves, I would be wary of buying anyone from Bayern.
€307,692/£260,780 per week (gross)
Obsessed? Not me. But it's the most repeated reason people say we can't play a high line with current players.
If I was to guess, I'd say the likes of Murtough and Woodward went back to the Glazers and asked for more money. I don't think the Glazers would have specifically told the club "we need to sign Antony and here's the money to do it". I doubt they even knew who Antony was.
I mean, Ten Hag wanted to sign Antony, but sanctioning the outlay came from above...isn't that how every club works? No manager signs off on money. And it's not on finance guys to say if they're worth it. Ten Hag and everyone 100% knew what we were paying for him, and that it was beyond the budget allocated.
Okay, so we're just talking about De Ligt and Maguire. You can't possibly defend your position.
Hm yeah I think that’s probably about right, I don’t know how I feel about it and agree with some suspicion.
Neither Dalot nor Shaw possess the sort of elite level pace you need to cover for slow centre backs. De Ligt/Maguire and Martinez would be fine if you had a Kyle Walker at right back to provide that last ditch cover for a high defensive line, but we don’t have that.
Call it obsessed all you like, but when we sign another slow defender and next year we see the line constantly dropping deeper, creating bigger gaps between defence and midfield again, you will know why.
Maybe but I think it was obvious our squad lacked goals last summer. The XI above that I've caused a stir by calling 'mid table' doesn't really address that major issue. It's mainly based on hope that at least one of the front 3 turns potential into real quality.
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